Report on Agricultural Education. 
145 
French agricultural schools as they have existed for the last 
century, into which it is unnecessary to follow him ; but some 
space must be devoted to the history of the highest school of 
agriculture in France, namely, the Institut National Agrono- 
mique. This important institution came into existence in the 
year 1849, having been established in execution of a law passed 
by the Assemblee Nationale. Its career was a short one ; but 
during the time that it existed it was housed in great mag- 
nificence in part of the splendid buildings of the Palace at 
Versailles. Attached to it were farms several hundred hectares 
in extent, furnished with collections of numerous breeds of 
horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. The whole scale of this esta- 
blishment seems to have been grand and ambitious ; among its 
professors were many first-rate men of science, such as Leonce 
de Lavergne (Rural Economy), and George Ville (Agricultural 
Chemistry). The sudden suppression of the institute by a 
decree of the Prince President in 1852 was a painful blow to 
agricultural education in France. 
In 1876, however, it was re-opened, though with certain 
important variations from its original constitution. In the first 
place, it was to be situated in Paris itself; and in the second, in 
lieu of any practical farm, a small plot of land of 100 acres, at 
Joinville-le-Pont, was assigned to it, for the purposes of demon- 
stration and experiment. As in all the agricultural academies 
of Germany, so in the new Institut National Agronomique the 
principle was to be that of a school of sciences applied to agri- 
culture. The school was organised in a part of the building 
belonging to the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in the Rue 
St. Martin, where it possesses its own class-rooms and labora- 
tories, though on a small scale, whilst it can use the lecture- 
rooms, the library, and the collections of the Conservatoire. 
This is said to be but a provisional arrangement, and the plan 
was economical as a commencement ; but as the number of 
students is rapidly increasing, the directors hope soon to have 
their own building. Students of the Institute must pass an 
entrance-examination, unless they are Bachelors of Science, or 
possess the diploma of one of the national schools of agri- 
culture, or have some other qualification which the Board of 
Examiners deem sufficient guarantee of their educational eligi- 
bility. The course of study necessary to enable a student to 
obtain the diploma extends over two years ; but some students, 
after having obtained their diploma, are allowed to remain a 
third year, to work in the chemical laboratory and at the experi- 
mental farm. The opinion of M. Risler is, that the pupils are 
overtasked with work during their two years' compulsory study, 
lor it must be borne in mind, that they are bound to employ a 
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